Flash card game with adjustable mirror



Sept. 1967 R. G. CHUY 3,339,296

FLASH CARD GAME WITH ADJUSTABLE MIRROR Filed June 4, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 TUE. y I

,0 INVENTOR.

Sept. 5, 1967 R. G. CHUY I I FLASH CARD GAME WITH ADJUSTABLE MIRROR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1965 United States Patent 3,339,296 FLASH CARD GAME WITH ADJUSTABLE IRRO M R Ruth G. Chuy, 15447 Sorrento, Detroit, Mich. 48227 Filed June 4, 1965, Ser. No. 461,233 Claims. (Cl. 35-31) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to flash card games used by children for learning simple arithmetic problems wherein a problem appears on the front face of a card and the answer thereto on the rear face thereof, and more particularly to a device for hingedly supporting flash cards and including a pivotally mounted means for viewing the answer on the rear face of the cards.

An important object of my invention is to provide a means for maintaining a set of flash cards in a compact and orderly fashion while they are being used, and a pivotally mounted means for ascertaining the answer to a problem without having to turn each card to read the answer usually printed on the rear face thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a structure whereby one set of cards, for example of addition problems, can be quickly inter-changed with another set of multiplication or division problems, etc., or with a set of cards relating to other subjects'of learning.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a novel and improved flash card gameand stand device which is simple and compact in construction, economical of manufacture, and easy to use.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved flash card game device comprising a set of flash cards, a stand, means for mounting said set of flash cards on said stand, and a pivotally mounted mirror carried by the stand and cooperative with said flash cards to show the answers to problems appearing on the front faces of said flash cards. The mirror may be pivoted between a first position where the answers may not be seen or to a second position where the answers are visible.

In general, it is the object of this invention to create more interest and excitement in learning through the use of flash cards with the novel employment of a pivotally mounted mirror in which to read the answers which may or may not be seen as desired.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a flash card game device made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2-2 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 3-3 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, elevational section view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 44 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevational section view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 3, taken along the line 55 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or similar parts, the numeral 10 generally designates a stand which includes the horizontal plate or platform 11 for supporting a set of flash cards and a pivotally mounted mirror, as more fully described hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the stand 10 comprises the front upright plate 12 which is transversely disposed and integrally connected to the front end of the platform 11. Formed on the rear end of the platform 11 is the rear upright plate or transverse member 13. A third transverse upright plate member 14 is integrally formed with the platform 11 at a point spaced apart forwardly from the rear plate 13.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left ends of the upright plates 13 and 14 are closed over or enclosed by the left side wall 15. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the

right ends of the upright plates 13 and 14 are enclosed by the right side wall 16. It will be understood that the aforedescribed parts of the stand 10 may be separately formed and connected together by any suitable means, or they may all be formed from a suitable plastic and by a suitable method as, for example, by a molding process.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a reflecting means or mirror is pivotally mounted between the walls 13 and 14. The mirror includes a frame, generally indicated by the numeral 17 which is provided with the rectangular recess 18 and in which is seated a conventional mirror 19.

As shown in FIG. 3, the right side of the adjustable or pivotally mounted mirror is provided with a recess 20 in which is mounted a pivot shaft 21 by any suitable means, as by a press fit. The outer end of the pivot shaft or pivot pin 21 is rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing 23 which is mounted in the hole 22 formed in the right side plate 16. The left side of the mirror is pivotally supported between the plates 13 and 14 by the pin 25 which has the inner end thereof seated in the recess 24 formed in the frame 17. The shaft or pin 25 is seated in the recess 24 by any suitable means, as by a press fit. The outer end of the shaft 25 extends outwardly through the left side plate 15, as shown in FIG. 3. The shaft 25 is rotatably supported in the bearing 27 which is mounted in the bore 26 formed in the side plate 15.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an adjusting knob 28 is fixed to the outer end of the shaft 25 for adjusting the mirror. The knob 28 is provided with the axial hole 29 in which is seated the outer end of the shaft 25. The knob 28 is provided with a radial hole 30 in which is mounted the set screw 31 for securing the knob 28 onto the shaft 25.

It will be seen that the mirror is substantially rectangular in overall configuration. The mirror 19 may be secured in the recess 18 by any suitable means, as by a suitable adhesive. FIG. 2 shows the mirror in the solid line position. When in the forward dotted line .position 32 shown in FIG. 2, the flash card answers cannot be seen from the front end of the device when viewed from the position shown in FIG. 1. The mirror may be rotated to the rearward position shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2, whereby the answers on the back of the answer cards may be viewed from the position of a person viewing the device as shown in the position of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upright plates 13 and 14 pro- 3 vide a stop means for limiting the pivotal movement of the mirror between the rear and forward positions. The angular distance through which the mirror is moved be tween the solid line position shown in FIG. 2 and the dot-ted line position 32 may be in the range of from 40 to 60. It will be understood that the mirror may be manually moved without the use of the knob 28, but that the knob is merely provided for purposes of convenience.

In FIGS. 2 and 3 a set of flash cards is operatively mounted on the platform 10 between the front upright plate 12 and the stop plate 14. The set of flash cards is generally indicated by the numeral 33. Each of the flash cards is individually marked by the numerals 34. As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, each of the flash cards 33 is provided with a hole 35 formed through one end of the card and through which is received the horizontally disposed rod 36. The front end of the rod 36 extends slidably through the hole 37 formed at an intermediate point in the front upright plate 12. The rod 36 extends through the hole 37 and is provided with a threaded portion 38 that is threadably received in a suitable knob 39. The knob 39 is thus fixed to the rod 36, and the inner face of the knob 39 engages the outer face of the front upright plate 12.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the rod 36 is horizontally disposed and extends outwardly through the set of cards 33 toward the upright plate 14. The inner or rear end of the rod 36 is threaded, as indicated by the numeral 40 in FIG. 5. The threaded rod end 40 is threadably mounted in the threaded front end 41 of the tubular rod 42. The front end of the rod 42 is provided with a flange 43 which is fixed to the rod 42 and which abuts the rear side of the innermost card 34, as shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rod 42 extends rearwardly and into slidable engagement with the bore 44 formed in the upright plate 14. It will be seen that when the rod 36 is turned in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, by means of the knob 39, that the inner end of the rod 40 will be threaded into the tube 42. The tube 42 will be moved forwardly or to the right as shown in FIG. so as to bring the flange 43 into engagement with the innermost card 34 and create a holding pressure between the flange 43 and the inner side of the front upright plate 12 to hold the cards in the desired position. That is, the cards will be squeezed so as to hold whatever card is moved to the upright position, as shown in FIG. 1, in the upright operative position. The rod 42 may be provided with any suitable means to prevent it from rotating in the recess 44. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a rod 45 may extend downwardly through the upright plate 14 and into engagement with a key slot 46 formed in the rear end of the tube 42. The lower end of the rod or key 45 will slide in the key slot 46 to prevent the tube 42 from rotating when the rod 36 is threaded into the tube 42.

The cards 34 may be made from any suitable rigid or firm paper, or plastic material. The illustrative cards 34 have problems in arithmetic printed on the front faces thereof as, for example, an addition problem of one plus one, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the rear face of the flash card 34 of FIG. 1 has a numeral printed backwardly thereon so that the solution to the addition problem will appear as the total of two in the mirror, as shown in FIG. 3, when the mirror is in the solid line position indicated in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 shows the rear side of the flash card 34 and shows the numeral two printed backwardly.

It will be readily apparent that as each card 34 is rotated from the left side of the platform, as shown in FIG. 3, and moved to the right side of the platform, the numerals on the back of the cards will be reflected from the mirror to the viewer disposed in front of the apparatus so that the answer may be quickly and easily read when the mirror is in the solid line position, as shown in FIG. 2. It will be understood that the cards could be first or initially disposed on the right side of the platform as viewed in FIG. 3, instead of on the left side.

For the purpose of more easily flipping each card from one side of the rod 36 to the other side thereof, each card 34 has its lower terminal end rounded. It will be seen that when it is desired to not read the answer, the mirror may be rotated to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 2 whereby the answer will not be viewed from the front of the apparatus as the apparatus is viewed as shown in FIG. 1. It will also be seen that any type of flash cards incorporating the aid of a mirror may be used for problems or written questions in fields other than mathematics wherein an answer may be in the form of a word or group of words comprising a sentence, also backwardly printed. It will also be seen that one set of the cards can be slidably removed from the rod 36 and replaced with another set by unthreading the threaded end 40 of the rod 36 out of the front end of the tube 42.

FIG. 6 shows a slight modification of the invention. In FIG. 6 the numeral 11a indicates a platform similar to the platform 11. In this modified embodiment the set of cards is indicated by the numeral 33a. The set f cards 33a is mounted on a rod generally indicated by the numeral 47. The rod 47 is substantially L-shaped in overall configuration. The rod 47 comprises a first vertical leg portion 48 which has the lower end thereof fixedly mounted in a bore 49 formed on the front end of the platform 11. In this embodiment it will be seen that the front upright plate 12 is deleted. The rod 47 further includes the horizontal portion 50 which is integrally connected to the upper end of the vertical portion 48. The rod 50 extends inwardly toward the upright plate 14. The set of cards 33a is swingably or pivotally mounted on the rod portion 50. For the purpose of preventing each card 34a from sliding off of the rod portion 50, the inner or free end of the rod portion 50 is radiused upward slightly as indicated by the numeral 51 in FIG. 6. It will be seen that any suitable type of flash cards may be used with the embodiment of FIG. 6, and that one set of the cards 33a may be slidably removed from the rod portion 50 and be replaced by another set of flash cards. The embodiment of FIG. 6 merely shows another arrangement for pivotally mounting the flash cards to coact with the adjustably mounted or pivotally mounted mirror. The answers on the rear faces of the flash cards 34a would be viewed or not viewed in the same manner as described hereinbefore under the operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 5.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described comprising: a set of flash cards having problems on the front faces thereof, and answers to the problems on the rear faces thereof; a stand; means for mounting said set of flash cards on said stand; a pivotally mounted mirror carried by said stand in a 'position spaced apart from and cooperative with said flash cards to show the answers to problems appearing on the front faces of said flash cards when it is pivoted to a first position, and said answers being unobservable when the mirror is pivoted to a second position said problems being observable when said mirror is in said first and second positions; and, stop means on said stand to limit the pivotal movement of the mirror at said first and second positions.

2. A device of the class described comprising: a set of flash cards having problems on the front faces thereof and answers to the problems on the rear faces thereof; a stand including a platform; means for pivotally mounting said set of flash cards on said platform; a mirror pivotally mounted on said platform in a position spaced apart from said flash cards; said mirror being cooperative with the rear faces of said flash cards to show the answers to problems appearing on the front faces of said flash cards when the mirror is pivoted to a first position, and said answers being unobservable when the mirror is pivoted to a second position said problems being observable when said minrot is in said first and second positions; and, stop means on said stand to limit the pivotal movement of the mirror at said first and second positions.

3. A device of the class described comprising: a set of flash cards having problems on the front faces thereof and answers to the problems on the rear faces thereof; a stand including a platform; means for pivotally mounting said set of flash cards on said platform; a mirror pivotally mounted on said platform in a position spaced apart from said flash cards; said mirror lbeing cooperative with the rear faces of said flash cards to Show the answers to problems appearing on the front faces of said flash cards when the mirror is pivoted to a first position, and said answers being unobservable when the mirror is pivoted to a second position; said means for pivotally mounting said set of flash cards on said platform including, a support member on said platform spaced apart from said minror, a rod adjustably mounted on said support member, each of said cards being provided with a hole through one end thereof through which is received said rod, and manually operated means connected to said rod for retaining said set of cards in a fixed position against said support means.

4. A device of the class described in claim 3, wherein: said manually operated means for retaining the cards against said support means includes, a flange adapted to bear against the inner side of said set of flash cards, and said rod being threadably connected to said flange, whereby when said rod is rotated in one direction said flange will be moved toward said support member to retain said cards against said support member and when said rod is rotated in the other direction said flange will release said cards to permit the card to be pivoted about said rod.

5. A device of the class described comprising: a set of flash cards having problems on the front faces thereof and answers to the problems on the rear faces thereof: a stand including a platform; means for pivotally mountin-g said set of flash cards on said platform; a mirror pivotallly mounted on said platform in a position spaced apart from said flash cards; said mirror being cooperative with the [rear faces of said flash cards to show the answers to problems appearing on the ifI'ODt faces of said flash cards when the mirror is pivoted to a first position, and said answers being unobservable when the mirror is pivoted to a sec-0nd position; said means for pivotally mounting said set of flash cards on said platform including a rod, and means for supporting the one end of said rod on said platform; and, said set of flash cards being pivotally mounted on said rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 335,837 2/1886 Peckham -9 X 434,855 8/1890 Worsley 40312 1,736,552 11/1925 Shulman et al. 359 2,723,464 11/ 1955 Zalkind 3532 3,271,882 9/1966 Chuy 35-31 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED COMPRISING: A SET OF FLASH CARDS HAVING PROBLEMS ON THE FRONT FACES THEREOF, AND ANSWERS TO THE PROBLEMS ON THE REAR FACES THEREOF; A STAND; MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID SET OF FLASH CARDS ON SAID STAND; A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED MIRROR CARRIED BY SAID STAND IN A POSITION SPACED APART FROM AND COOPERATIVE WITH SAID FLASH CARDS TO SHOW THE ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS APPEARING ON THE FRONT FACES OF SAID FLASH CARDS WHEN IT IS PIVOTED TO A FIRST POSITION, AND SAID ANSWERS BEING UNOBSERVABLE WHEN THE MIRROR IS PIVOTED TO A SECOND POSITION SAID PROBLEMS BEING OBSERVABLE WHEN SAID MIRROR IS IN SAID FIRST AND SECOND POSITONS; AND, STOP MEANS ON SAID STAND TO LIMIT THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE MIRROR AT SAID FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS. 